Divorce Essay | Essay

The Causes of Divorce

Summary: There are as many theories about what causes marriages to end in divorce as there are people offering them. The main factors that enable a marriage to work are communication, compromise, and commitment, without which a marriage does not work. And while adultery may be a factor in the end of marriages, it is usually a symptom, rather than a cause, of divorce.

There are as many theories on this issue as there are people offering them. The usual explanations are communication, compromise, and commitment, and it's hard to disagree with them.

Indeed, if both spouses were consistently able to communicate with each other, able and willing to compromise with each other, and 100% committed to their marriage, it's hard to see how it could fail.

The vexing question, of course is HOW do they foster communication, compromise, and commitment? Here the explanations diverge.

For those with a fundamental faith foundation, the answer is clear. Marriages work if both spouses obey the principles of the faith. For a more prosaic explanation, check marriagebuilders.com, where therapist Willard Harley lays out a simple set of principles he says any couple can use to help their romance survive and thrive.

The principle that creates the most stir with groups I address is from Cosmopolitan...